Burned Out
by Madartiste
Summary: The aftermath of Tin Men. How does Dwayne deal with the changes that have happened? *All of Chapter 8 up*
1. Nightmares

Disclaimer: I don't own Big Guy and Rusty or any of the characters. They are all the property of their respective creators and whomever has the publishing rights and whatnot.

A/N: I suggest you read Tin Men to get the background on this story. I promise this one with have a lot more character interaction in it. And more Dwayne. :) Gotta like that, right?

  


  


Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot: Burned Out

  


  


Chapter 1: Nightmares

  


  


_Dwayne pushed the trigger button for the chain guns as he directed Big Guy to dodge to the left. A missile impacted on the ground where he had just been standing. The explosion flung dirt and rock in all directions. _

_He watched in frustration and the unknown enemy blurred past him, "Who is this guy? Why can't I even hit him?" Chasing the figure, the Big Guy leapt over a fallen piece of building. Dwayne vaguely noticed the surroundings. It looked like a part of New Tronic City, but not something seemed out of place._

_He had no time to consider this as he found himself in front of Quark Tower. His target was tearing a hole in side of the building. "Nuts... I can't fire without risking hitting someone..." Grabbing the assailant from behind, Dwayne tried to spin it around but found himself being thrown instead._

_"Damn!" Big Guy slammed into Quark Tower, leaving a robot shaped dent. Dwayne jerked the controls to avoid a shot from the strange enemy. As he turned, he saw Dr. Slate standing near the entrance. "Get out of here!" he shouted at her. She called something to him, cupping her hands around her mouth, but Dwayne couldn't hear what it was. A second later, the entire lower portion of Quark Tower erupted in flames. Dr. Slate vanished behind a curtain of fire._

_"Noooo!" Dwayne cried out in horror. Tears threatening to spill down his face, he rounded on his enemy. "Why?!" he snarled as he flipped the cap from the switch that would fire the sidewinder missiles. Just as he was going to press the button, he realized who his enemy was, "It... It's... me?" Standing in front of him was Big Guy's identical twin, and on the monitor in he cockpit, his own face._

Dwayne gasped as he woke. He blinked repeatedly as he tried to get his bearings. His hands were clenched into fists, gathering the bed-sheets in a death grip. Slowly forcing himself to open his hands, he pushed himself up off his stomach and swung his legs over the side of the bed, "A dream... A dream... Thank God..." 

Breathing slow deep breaths, Dwayne ran his fingers through his sweat dampened hair. This wasn't the first time he'd had this dream. Ever since he'd returned from the hospital five days ago, the nightmare had repeated itself - often several times in a night. It didn't matter how many times he went through it, the nightmare always seemed real and always left him with a feeling of dread.

"No way I'm going to sleep tonight..." glancing at the clock, he was relieved to see it was already 4:30 AM. He was used to rising early, though this was even earlier than normal. Standing, Dwayne wandered into the bathroom to get dressed.

  


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"Hey, you're up early, "Jo commented when she came into the mess hall at 6:30, "Ready for the test flight today?"

"Definitely," Dwayne said. It'd be a relief to get things back to normal. Dr. Poindexter had suggested some modifications that would improve the Big Guy's performance. They had finished them yesterday and set the next day to test them, "Can't wait."

"Heh, once a fly-boy, always a fly-boy," she shook her head as she poured a cup of coffee, "You can't stand being grounded, can you?"

Dwayne stretched his long legs out in front of him, "I miss flying, if that's what you mean."

The young blond woman laughed a bit before taking a sip of her coffee, "Yup, you are definitely an air-jockey."

"So tell us somethin' new," Mack walked in, glancing at the two younger people. 

Garth followed immediately behind him, "We'd better start the preps soon if we want to get this rolling."

"No need to tell me twice," Dwayne practically jump up from his chair, "I've been ready to do this since yesterday.

  


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"Okay, Dwayne," Jo gave him the thumbs up sign on the cockpit monitor, "You're clear to go."

The Lieutenant grinned, "It's about time." Flipping switches, he activated the Big Guy's systems and directed the machine to stand. He took to the air, flying out the hatch in the deck and hovering a short distance about the ship.

"All right, let's check the motor control..." Garth punched a few keys on the command panels, "Looking good, Dwayne..." Quick eyes darting from screen to screen, he monitored the results from the readouts. "Nice... Let's try out those new boosters."

Punching the button on front of the right hand control, Dwayne let the machine go at it's top speed.

"Wow... Now that's a definite improvement," Garth told him, "Bank around and come back, okay?"

"No problem," Dwayne executed the command easily, "What's next?"

Toggling five switches at the top of the board, Garth replied, "We're gonna try out the weapons responses. There go the decoys..." Five small, round machines surrounded the Big Guy, hovering in the air, "Give 'em what you've got, Dwayne."

He swung the Big Guy around firing the machine guns that were housed in the backs of the arms, destroying one of the decoys. Turning again, Dwayne fired the cranial laser and was satisfied as another of the small machines exploded. Pushing a button, he activated the forearm lasers and aimed at the third decoy. Just as he was going to fire, he saw an image of Dr. Slate yelling to him right before being engulfed in flames, "Gahh!" The Big Guy jerked in response to Dwayne pulling back on the controls, "No!"

Garth frowned as he heard the Lieutenant's voice over the speakers, "Dwayne? You okay?"

Struggling to breath, Dwayne found himself shaking badly. Sweat ran down his face, and as he removed his right hand from the control stick, he found he couldn't hold it still. He squeezed his eyes shut, praying the panic would subside, "No, no... It's not real..."

"What the hell's the matter?" Mack scowled, "What's he talking about?"

"I don't know..." Garth's concerned voice traveled over the radio, "Dwayne! Talk to me, man!"

"I can't... I can't..." gasping for air, Dwayne dropped his helmeted head into his hands, "Noooo..."

The three remaining members of the Pit Crew exchanged fearful looks. Garth punched in the code for the manual override and directed the Big Guy back to the deck. Mack climbed up to help unseal the hatch after the robot had been landed.

Dwayne crawled out, still shaking. Grabbing his arm to keep him from falling, Mack led the Lieutenant down, "What the hell's going on?" 

Pulling off his helmet, Dwayne sat down, leaning against the platform used to seat the Big Guy. He closed his eyes and gulped large breaths of air, "I'm okay... I'm okay..."

"The hell you are!" crouching down next to him, the surly Mack looked him him the face, "This is something serious."

"No, no..." Dwayne shook his head, still out of breath, "It's nothing... I..."

"I've seen this before," Mack interrupted, "After getting bucked, sometimes people freeze when they get back on the horse."

"I didn't freeze..." Dwayne whispered.

"You did," in a surprising gesture of sympathy, Mack placed a steady hand on the younger man's shoulder, "There's no shame in it. That sort of thing happens to even the best. It just takes some time."

Jo glanced at Garth as she radioed for Thorton, "General... I think we've come across a little problem..."

  


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"You want me to see a shrink?!" Dwayne shouted. //I can't believe I'm hearing this...// "I'm NOT crazy!"

Thorton sat calmly at his desk, "No one said you were, Lieutenant. But you do need help."

Frustrated, Dwayne paced in front of the General, "I'm fine! I just got off to a bad start. I..."

"I heard the recording of the test flight. If that's was just a bad start, I'd really hate to see a serious problem," standing, Thorton walked around to the other side of his desk, "Hunter, we can't afford to lose you. You're too damn good at your job. There's something wrong here, though, and you need help to work it out."

"So you want me to see a psychiatrist?" 

"I'll make it an order if I have to," Thorton said solemnly.

Dwayne slumped in defeat, "All right... I'll go..." Straightening he set his jaw determinedly, "But it this doesn't do anything, you'll let it drop?"

Placing his hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder, the General spoke with a serious voice, "We will ALL do whatever it takes to work this out."

Dwayne nodded, "Okay... So, where do you find a psychiatrist with that kind of security clearance?"

  


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	2. Therapy?

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. Hopefully the next one will be longer. As for how fast this came about, I've had this stuff rolling around in my head for a while now. Can't wait to get it all out on paper.

  


  


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Chapter 2: Therapy?

  


  


//I can't believe I agreed to this...//

Dwayne sat in the large, comfortable chair with his hands resting in his lap. He glanced nervously at watch again as Dr. Reinhardt settled into her chair. The doctor was a tall woman with shoulder length dark blond hair. It wasn't the first time Dwayne had seen her since she was a member of the BGY commission. 

"So, Lt. Hunter, how are you feeling today?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Uh... fine..." he answered cautiously. Dwayne was well aware that anything he said was going to be considered important by the doctor.

"That's good," she said with a nod. Glancing down at the notepad laying in her lap, Reinhardt asked another question, "How long have you been involved with the BGY program?"

//She must know the answer to that...// Dwayne thought suspiciously, "Ten years."

"Ah, yes... And you were one of the original pilots?"

"Yeah..."

"Mmm... Do you enjoy your job?"

"Of course," Dwayne frowned, "I'm serving my country."

The doctor leaned her chin on her hand, "Is that the only reason you like it?"

Dwayne fidgeted, "Well, no... I like flying..."

Making a small note, she said, "I see... Do you get along well with your coworkers?"

"Sure. They're my friends."

"Mmm hmm... How do you feel about Big Guy's fame?"

Dwayne blinked, caught off guard by the question, "Huh?"

Studying the Lieutenant, Reinhardt explained, "The Big Guy is considered to be a hero. How does that make you feel?"

"I feel... just fine..." Dwayne frowned.

"You've spent ten years serving as the Big Guy... Do you feel under appreciated?"

"Uh.. You've lost me, Doc... Why would I feel under appreciated?"

Reinhardt's voice indicated that she felt the question should have been an obvious one, "You've spent all these years working as the Big Guy, yet he gets the recognition for your efforts. Does this bother you?"

Dwayne bristled, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The doctor leaned forward in her chair, "Do you resent him?"

"Excuse me?!" Dwayne stared at her incredulously, "Resent him? 'He's' a machine! And not even one with artificial intelligence! Why the hell would I resent Big Guy?"

She made another small note while changing the topic, "Why don't you tell me about your friends? Who do you spend the most time with?"

Though still angry over her last assumption, Dwayne answered slowly, "That would be the rest of the Pit Crew... Jo, Garth, and Mack..." He paused for a second before amending himself, "And Rusty and the Doc..."

Dr. Reinhardt tipped her head, interested, "Who're are you referring to as 'the Doc?'"

"Dr. Slate," he told her, "She's the one who built Rusty. The Doc's pretty much our scientific consultant, even if it's unofficially. She's saved us more than once."

"Ah..." Reinhardt smiled knowingly, "Do you admire her?"

Dwayne frowned, "Sure I do... There isn't anything she doesn't know about robots. I don't think I've ever met anyone with more guts than she has..."

"Mmm hmm... I see... Are you involved in a relationship at the moment?"

Nonplused, Dwayne just let his mouth hang open as his thoughts caught up with the question, "Uh... No..."

"How long has it been since you have been?"

"Uh... Well..." Dwayne rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to remember, "Not since... Um... I guess that would have been the early days of the BGY project... About nine years ago."

"Really..." Reinhardt made another note, "Why do you think that is? Are you not interested?"

"No... I just... don't have the time," he said defensively, "It's hard to be involved with someone when you have to run off every time the planet's in danger... Most just wouldn't... understand."

"Mmm hmm... I see..."

Dwayne gritted his teeth, irritated. //I wish she'd quit doing that...//

Dr. Reinhardt abruptly stood, smiling genially, "Well, I think that's enough, Lt. Hunter."

Dwayne was a bit startled by the sudden movement and rose to his feet, "Uh... all right..." He was quickly escorted out the door which immediately clicked shut behind him, "Sheesh... That was fast..." Looking around, the Lieutenant stuffed his hands into his pockets. Slowly wandering towards the door, he briefly considered the meeting, "Hope I didn't say anything too stupid..."

  


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Dwayne opened the door to General Thorton's office. Everyone turned to look at him, and he hesitated. He hadn't been expecting to see so many people. Mack, Jo, Garth, and Dr. Reinhardt had spaced themselves around the office. It was obvious that they had been discussing something while waiting for him to arrive, "Uh... Hi, guys..."

Thorton sat with his hands clasped on his desk, "Come in, Lieutenant."

"Sure..." closing the door behind him, Dwayne glanced around at the group. He took one of the empty seats in front of Thorton's desk, "What's this all about?"

Clearing his throat, the General spoke, "Considering your recent... incident, Dr. Reinhardt has made a recommendation."

Dwayne tensed, "Really? And what would that be...?"

Thorton took a deep breath, "A vacation."

"Huh...? A... vacation?" Dwayne couldn't help but laugh. Relief washed over him, "Is that all? You made it sound like something serious."

"A month," Thorton continued, "without any interference."

Dwayne balked, "A whole month?"

"Maybe more," Thorton warned, "You're not to even set foot on the Dark Horse."

Jo put a hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder, "Hey, don't sweat it. We can handle things while you're gone."

Garth nodded emphatically, "Besides, you've earned a break. After all you've been through, you should get some time off."

"What am I going to do for a whole month...?" Dwayne asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"You'll figure it out," Mack said as he adjusted his baseball cap, "Bet you'll find it's not even enough time."

"If I'm not supposed to be on the ship, where am I going to stay?" Dwayne asked.

Thorton tossed a set of keys to him. Dwayne snatched them easily out of the air and studied them curiously. "The military has a suite at the Plaza that it keeps for VIP's and visiting brass. We figured you fit the bill, being such a celebrity and all," the General grinned.

"Yeah... Perfect..." Dwayne's voice betrayed his uncertainty.

"You'd think you handed him a death sentence instead of a vacation," Mack grumbled, "You might take it a little better, Lieutenant."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "I'm just not used to this... You really think this is necessary?"

Dr. Reinhardt nodded, "Of course. Removing yourself from the stress related to your work should do a great deal to replenish you."

"Right... Okay..." Dwayne shrugged, knowing that he had no way out of the situation, "No problem..."

"Oh, right," Jo snapped her fingers as she recalled, "Your sister and nephew are intending to come for a visit. Darlene got in touch earlier and said they'd be out tomorrow morning. She sounded like she was pretty worried about you."

"Darlene and Jeffy?" surprised, Dwayne shook his head, "That ought to be interesting..." 

General Thorton tapped his fingers on his desktop, "Anyway, you've got your orders. Your vacation starts tomorrow morning, Lieutenant, and no excuses!" Glancing down at the pile of papers on his desk, he dismissed the group, "Now... Everybody get out of here. I've got paperwork to finish..."

  


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	3. Visitors

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Chapter 3: Visitors

  


"Uncle Dwayne!" Jeffy ran full tilt towards the Lieutenant who crouched down and then scooped him up into his arms.

"Hey, sport," Dwayne chuckled, "Good to see you."

Darlene smiled as she walked over to the two, "So, they finally gave you some time off."

"More like ordered me to take it," Dwayne admitted, setting Jeffy back on the ground, "Let me grab your bags..." He picked up the suitcases and stepped over to the car. Tossing the luggage into the trunk, Dwayne circled around and opened the door, "In ya go, kid." Jeffy immediately hopped into the car, making himself comfortable in the back seat.

"A new convertible?" Darlene raised an eyebrow, "I'm impressed."

"Don't be," Dwayne laughed, "It's rented. Luckily, the military's fitting my bills for a while." He waved his hand to indicated that she should get in, "Ladies first."

Settling herself in the passenger seat, Darlene watched her brother walk around the front of the car and climb into the driver's side, "I guess you don't have much call for a car of your own, do you?"

"Nope," Dwayne turned the ignition key and pulled out from the front of the airport, "I spend most of my time on the ship."

"Can we see Rusty?" Jeffy called from the back seat, "I wanna go visit him..."

"I'll have to ask Doc Slate first," Dwayne told him, "But I don't think she'll mind."

"Yay! Can we go now?"

Dwayne glanced at the boy in the back seat, "We'll get you two settled in at the hotel first. THEN I'll give the Doc a call."

"'Doc Slate?'" leaning her right arm on the top of the door, Darlene considered her brother, "Who's she?"

Knowing the familiar look she was giving him, Dwayne quickly answered, "Hey, don't get any ideas. She's Rusty's creator. Nice lady; works for Quark Industries. And no... We're not involved."

"Really..." his sister's voice held a note of skepticism for his last statement, "I can't wait to meet her."

  


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Dwayne pulled his car into the parking lot for Quark Tower. They had stopped at the hotel first to check in and drop of the luggage. Jeffy had been so excited about the prospect of seeing his robotic friend again, Dwayne had surrendered and called Dr. Slate.

Flashing his I.D. at the security guard was enough to get them in. It didn't hurt that he'd been there plenty of times before, "So what do you think? Pretty impressive, huh?"

"This place is huge!" Darlene said, "I know it's a tower, but..."

"Rusty!" Jeffy ran ahead of the two adults. Rusty waved his hands, happy to see his friend. 

Watching the two, Dr. Slate stood smiling in the doorway of her lab with her arms folded, "Hello, Lieutenant. I take it this is your nephew..." 

"Sure is," Dwayne told her, hands in his pockets, "This is my sister, Darlene. Darlene, this is Dr. Erica Slate."

"Please call me Erica," Dr. Slate shook hands with the other woman, "Why don't you two come inside and sit down."

Rusty tugged on the doctor's lab coat, "Can me and Jeffy go play catch?"

"Weeelll..." Erica began cautiously, "If his mother says its all right..."

Both boys turned their pleading eyes to Darlene who couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, okay."

"Yay!!" the two children ran down the hall, disappearing around the corner.

"Kids..." shaking her head as she sat down, Darlene smiled, "It doesn't take much to make them happy."

"How long are you staying in New Tronic city?" Dr. Slate asked conversationally.

"Only a couple of days," Darlene told her, "Jeffrey, my husband, is going to be off on leave soon, so we can't stay too long."

"He's in the military?" Erica perched on the edge of her desk.

"Navy," she smiled at the other woman, "We don't get to see too much of him during the year... Not that I see Dwayne any more frequently."

Dwayne stretched his legs out in front of him as he got comfortable in his chair, "I take it that's a not-so subtle hint that I need to visit more often."

Poking his head into the room, Rusty sought out Dwayne, "Lieutenant Dwayne, can you come play with us? We need one more person for our game!"

Shrugging, he stood and walked out of the room, "Sure thing, kid. Where's the ball?"

Dr. Slate watched him go, "He's very good about Rusty."

"Dwayne's great with kids," Darlene commented, "He'd make a great father... If he ever has kids, of course."

"It must be difficult not seeing your brother and husband very often," Dr. Slate murmured, changing the subject.

Darlene shrugged, "You don't really get used to it, but it gets easier to deal with as time goes on. Dad was in the Navy too, so we learned to live with it as kids."

"Oh... I see..."

"Dwayne always wanted to go into the services. We were all very proud of Dad, and he wanted to be just like him," she smiled at the fond memory, "I'll never forget the look on Dad's face when Dwayne decided to join the Army, though. He thought his only son should REALLY follow in his footsteps and be a Navy man. But not Dwayne," she shook her head and laughed, "Oh, no, he wanted to be a pilot, and come hell or high water, he was going to do it."

"Lt. Hunter is a rather... remarkable man..." Dr. Slate agreed.

"Yeah... He scared the hell out of me and our parents more than a few times, though," Darlene declared, "He almost got killed a couple of times during test flights. Every time we'd get a phone call from the Army, Mom was sure it meant the worst... His superiors always said that if he wasn't as good as he is, he'd be dead. He even usually managed to save the plane he was flying too..."

"It sounds like he really enjoyed being a pilot."

Darlene frowned, her eyes cast on the floor, "He did... He enjoyed it more than anything else... That's why I've never figured out why he took that job as a mechanic. I know it's rather prestigious, but..." She looked Dr. Slate in the eyes, "It's just not like him to give up on something so important to him..."

A bit surprised by the other woman's confession, Erica fumbled for something to say, "Well... Uh... I'm sure he hasn't completely given up... He still flies sometimes..."

"I know... But it's not like it used to be, and it doesn't seem to bother him... But... Anyway... How about you?" Darlene leaned forward in her seat, "It must be fascinating to work in a place like this."

"It has it's perks, I suppose," Erica consented, "But then again, there's my boss..."

"That bad, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it..." The two women shared a small laugh. "It's not too terrible," Dr. Slate confessed, "They mostly let me work on what I like and don't bother me too much... It's just that Dr. Donovan can be rather..."

"Obnoxious?" Darlene offered.

"That's one way of putting it..."

"I understand. I've had bosses like that before," Darlene told her, "They tend to meddle in absolutely everything... and screw things up in the process, am I right?"

"Precisely," Erica sighed, "Not much that I can do about it, of course..."

"OOOOWWW!" a bellow of pain echoed down the corridor, bringing the two women to the doorway. Dr. Donovan was sprawled out on the floor, groaning, with Rusty, Dwayne, and Jeffy standing over him. Jenny had obviously leapt to the safety of a wall fixture.

"Oh, I'm real sorry, Dr. Donovan," Rusty apologized as he attempted to help the human up, "I didn't mean to hit you with the ball..."

Donovan sputtered with rage as he batted the robot's hand away, "You... You... What are you trying to do?! I could've been killed!"

"Wouldn't THAT have been a tragedy," Dwayne drawled, "Imagine the headlines... Head of major corporation cut down in the prime of life... by a softball."

Jenny snickered and immediately earned a severe look from Donovan who then turned to glower at Dwayne, "Why are you always hanging around here, anyway? Don't you have a CAR to fix or something?" By this time Jenny had climbed back on to his shoulder and added her own contemptuous glare.

"Not at the moment, no," the Lieutenant smiled a bit too brightly, "Looks like I've got some free time..."

"Lovely..." brushing imagined dust from his coat, Donovan pointedly turned his back on Dwayne, "Dr. Slate... might I have a word with you about your... creation.?"

"Hey, it was an accident," Dwayne cut in, "Rusty said he was sorry. There's no reason to bother the Doc."

Donovan didn't even turn around as he responded, "I don't believe I was talking to you..." 

"It's all right, Lieutenant," Dr. Slate stepped forward, "I should probably handle this..." Her demeanor indicated that this would not be the best time for outside interference.

Suddenly, Donovan noticed Darlene standing next to Dr. Slate, "Oh... Hello... Do I... know you?"

"No... I really doubt it," she said cautiously.

Straightening himself, Donovan smiled broadly. Erica couldn't help but think that the effect was rather like a blowfish puffing itself up to look impressive. "Well, then allow me to introduce myself. I'm Dr. Axel Donovan, CEO of Quark Industries and accomplished scientist. Uh... Who might you be?"

"Uh... I'm Darlene Baele..." she replied, gingerly shaking his hand.

"You must be new here!" Donovan didn't seem to be inclined to let her hand out of his grasp, "Perhaps we should do lunch. I like to get to know my new employees."

Dwayne looked positively horrified. //The grease ball is hitting on my sister!// "She doesn't work here," he said, emphasizing each word.

"Oh... Ah, we should probably be going anyway," Darlene said quickly, forcibly retrieving her hand, "It was really nice to meet you, Erica... Come on, Jeffy." Gently taking her son's arm, she gave Dwayne a stern look.

"Ah... right... yeah..." Dwayne mumbled, "We'd better go..."

Rusty waved enthusiastically at the departing humans, "Come back soon, okay?"

Winking at the robot, Dwayne grinned, "Count on it."

  


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"Dr. Donovan doesn't have kids, does he?" Darlene took a sip of coffee from her cup as she sat down.

"That obvious, huh?" lounging in the hotel's comfortable chair, Dwayne glanced at his nephew who was sound asleep on one of the beds.

His sister nodded, "The guy's a jerk."

The Lieutenant laughed quietly, "He sure is. The monkey's the only friend he's got, and even she doesn't like him all the time. I still can't believe he asked you to lunch..."

"Erica was awfully nice, though," she commented, "I'm glad I got to meet her. She... seems to think rather highly of you..." 

Taken by surprise, Dwayne stuttered, "Huh? Oh... Well, I, uh..." A faint pink color washed across his features.

"I don't believe it..." Darlene grinned triumphantly, "I never thought I'd see Dwayne Hunter blushing over a girl!"

He scowled at her, "I'm not blushing! We're just friends. That's ALL."

"Sure you are..." she smiled over the rim of her coffee cup, "Methinks you doth protest too much."

"Butchering Shakespeare to further your own evil agenda?" he said in an attempt to divert her attention.

"Oh, no you don't," wagging a warning finger at him, Darlene refused to be distracted, "This isn't about me. Its about you having found someone you like enough to make such a fuss over. You've never made such a big deal about denying having a relationship with a woman before."

"But we don't have one!" he protested.

"Not yet anyway."

Dwayne crossed his arms over his chest, "She's not interested in me. Besides, I'm hardly her type anyway..."

His sister raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really? And just what is her type, do you think?"

"She works with a bunch of geniuses, Darlene," he responded with a shrug, "What would she see in someone like me?"

"You mean aside from you being a decorated officer in the military and being able to fly a jet-fighter? Gee... Let me think..."

"Come on... That's not going to impress someone like her," Dwayne insisted.

"The uniform."

"Huh?" he said, confused.

Darlene gave him a sly smile, "Women love a man in uniform."

  


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	4. Insomnia

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Chapter 4: Insomnia

  


Dwayne closed the door of his hotel suite behind him and tossed the car keys on to a side table. He had said good bye to his sister and nephew a half-hour ago and watched forlornly as their plane lifted off. Though he would miss the two dearly, the truth was that he had nothing left to do with the rest of his forced vacation.

//Maybe I should go fishing...//

Dropping into the comfortable arm chair, he picked up the television remote. Dwayne idly flipped through the channels as he thought about the previous few days. It had been nice to spend time with family. Jeffy and Rusty got along extremely well, and Dr. Slate had actually been rather glad to have the boy robot out of Quark Tower for a while. The two kids had spent all of yesterday together playing in the park. 

Dwayne glanced at the clock beside the tv set. //8:34 PM... To early to turn in yet...// Perusing the channels, he found a documentary on WWII fighter planes. //Hey, not bad...// He put the remote on the table next to the chair and sat back to watch.

  


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THUMP. Dwayne's eyes flew open as he tried to orient himself. //What...? What happened...?// He found himself lying rather awkwardly on the floor and slowly sat up. //I feel asleep... That dream again...// Dwayne unsuccessfully tried to suppress a shudder. The same nightmare was still plaguing him. Rubbing his eyes, he vainly attempted to drive away the images from the dream. 

Standing, he glanced again at the clock, "12:30 AM... Man... I was out that long?" It was rare that he fell asleep without meaning to. Actually, having done so was rather disconcerting. Still rather shaken from the nightmare, Dwayne decided it would be better to take walk than try to go back to sleep.

He wandered aimlessly for awhile, not needed a distinct destination. The bright streetlights shown in patches, alternating between the warm glow and darkness. A strong breeze was beginning to blow, and Dwayne turned up the collar on his jacket. Looking up at the sky, he saw dark clouds gathering across the moon and stars, "Great... Now it's going to rain..."

Just as he uttered the words, a torrent of water poured down out. Frustrated, Dwayne sought some shelter. The shops had all closed up for the night, though, and there wasn't much cover from the storm. Noticing a street sign, he realized he wasn't far from Quark Tower. On a whim, Dwayne decided to see if Dr. Slate was still working.

Dwayne stepped into the building, his clothes and hair soaking wet. The night security man looked up from the book he was reading and frowned. "Uh, hi..." Dwayne said lamely, "It's, ah, raining outside..." The man put the book down, watching him warily. "Wait... Here," pulling his military security clearance badge from his pocket, Dwayne handed it to the man. //Never leave home without it...//

Looking much relieved, the guardsman gave him a friendly smile, "Oh, hello, Lt. Hunter. Isn't it rather late for you to be out and around?"

"Couldn't sleep," he explained, "You wouldn't know if Dr. Slate is still in, would you?"

"Oh, yeah," the man shook his head, "She works way too hard. I can buzz her if you like..."

"Nah, I'll just go on up... if that's okay with you, of course."

"No problem, Lieutenant. You know the way?"

Dwayne grinned, "Sure do. Thanks." Heading down the hall, he paused at the elevator. When the doors opened, he stepped in and punched the button for Dr. Slate's floor.

Getting out, he saw that the entire hall was dark except for a single room. The warm yellow glow spilled out into the hallway invitingly. Dwayne stopped in the doorway, looking around. Dr. Slate sat at her desk with her back to the door, totally oblivious to his presence. Not wanting to take her by surprise, Dwayne cleared his throat.

Spinning around, Erica gasped and put her hand to her chest, definitely startled. It took her only a moment to realize who the intruder was, "Lieutenant! You scared me!"

"Oh... Sorry... Believe it or not, I was trying NOT to..."

She smiled faintly, "You weren't very successful. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same thing..." he said defensively.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Dr. Slate tapped her foot, "I was working."

"Oh. Right," Dwayne rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, "I... just saw your light on and stopped by..."

"You're dripping..."

"Huh...?" looking down at himself, he muttered a soft curse, "Um... sorry, it's raining outside and..."

"You walked here in the rain?!" Dr. Slate interrupted, "It's cold outside!" Dwayne opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when Erica took his arm and forced him into a seat. "Take off that coat," she insisted, helping him out of the wet garment.

He watched her hang the coat off the back of another chair, "Uh, thanks..." 

"Here..." handing him several towels, Erica laid another one about his shoulders, "I keep these around in case of emergencies. Never know when you might need one."

"Thanks..." he repeated.

She paused, studying his face and frowning, "Are you all right? You look exhausted..."

Dwayne shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "It's nothing... I just haven't been sleeping all that well." 

Fetching another chair, Dr. Slate sat down near him, "Is something bothering you?"

He somewhat surprised by her question - not because it was unexpected, but because it was correct. Rubbing his hair vigorously with one of the towels, Dwayne answered, "No... No, it's just... I've been having some bad dreams... Nothing big..."

"Nightmares?" she asked, her voice soft.

He froze for an instant and then slowly set the towel back down in his lap, "Something like that..."

Concern shown in her warm brown eyes, "Do you... want to talk about it?"

Taking a deep breath, Dwayne submitted, "I'm... not entirely sure what to say. It's kind of strange... Ever since I got out of the hospital, I keep having the same dream over and over... and it seems so real every time..." he began slowly, "I don't remember everything, but..."

Dr. Slate nodded in encouragement, "Go on..."

"I'm in the Big Guy, and I find myself fighting an enemy I just can't seem to beat. It moves so fast that I can't even get a good look at it. I don't know where it came from or what its trying to do... but I end up chasing it here... to Quark Tower... I saw people getting killed by stray weapon's fire... I tried to grab it, but it tossed me around like a sack of potatoes." Dwayne's face looked stricken as he recalled the dream, "Then I saw... you... You were trying to tell me something, but I couldn't hear you... And then... then..." He broke off abruptly, bowing his head.

"What happened?" Erica asked, gently reaching out to touch his arm.

"You... were killed..." Dwayne said, his voice nearly inaudible, "An incendiary took out the first floor of the tower..." He let out a short, harsh laugh, shaking his head, "As if that wasn't bad enough, I finally got a good look at the person I was fighting..."

Dr. Slate seemed completely absorbed by his words, "Who was it?"

Dwayne looked her straight in the eyes, his mouth drawn into a thin, severe line, "It was me... I was fighting myself... **I** was killing those people. I killed... you..."

"No," Erica tightened her grip on his arm, "It wasn't YOU. You were trying to save those people. The enemy was someone else... maybe someone who looked like you, but not you."

"Hah. That's pretty funny coming from you considering that I tried to strangle you a couple of weeks ago," he said bitterly.

"But you didn't," she reminded him, "You fought off Number Seven's control. Why are you being so hard on yourself? You shouldn't feel guilty about what happened. It wasn't your fault."

Dwayne ran his fingers through his damp hair and sighed, "I know, I know... I don't know why I keep having this nightmare... I don't even remember what happened. The only things I know is what I was told in the debriefing."

"I suppose such a traumatic experience would have a profound effect on the subconscious if nothing else," she suggested, "You might not consciously remember what happened, but it's possible that you do UNconsciously..."

"I guess that could explain it..." he assented.

Dr. Slate smiled reassuringly, "You shouldn't be worrying about this. The whole point of this vacation is for you to relax."

Raising his head, Dwayne studied her face for a moment before returning her smile, "Thanks... I really appreciate this."

"Yes... well..." Erica stood quickly and turned toward the window. Her face felt warm, and she was certain she was blushing. //How does he do that to me?// "It... it looks like it's stopped raining... I... should be getting home now..." she said awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah... Me too," Dwayne collected the towels, "You... you wouldn't happen to... uh, maybe I could... walk you... home...?"

Erica paused as she was removing her coat from the hook. //Oh, heck, why not?// "Actually... that would be nice."

"Really? Uh... Okay..." trying not to seem too eager, Dwayne put on his still damp coat, "Sounds good..."

Chuckling, Dr. Slate turned off her desk lamp, "Come on. Let's go."

  


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	5. Coincidence?

A/N: Well, I got a little stuck with this story and decided to merge it with another one I had planned to write. Just a warning: things might get a little weird, but hopefully it'll be the good kind of weird. :) Thanks for sticking with me! 

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Chapter 5: Coincidence?

  


Dwayne sprawled in a chair, head back, staring at the ceiling of his hotel room. So far, he had managed to get through two and a half weeks of his leave. After his long talk with Dr. Slate, he had decided that it might be best to get out of the city for a while and really relax - - no distraction, no technology, no people... He had spent four days at a cabin in the woods, doing nothing but fish and commune with nature. //I am SO bored...//

He had intended to spend more time there, but discovered rather quickly that the lack of... well, anything, just wasn't what he wanted. Truthfully, he missed the excitement of being the BGY-11's pilot. After fighting evil acid spitting aliens from other dimensions, just about anything else was too tame. //Man... Have I turned into an adrenaline junkie? Maybe I really DO need this vacation... If just to learn how to live like a normal person again.//

Dwayne turned the new thought over in his mind for a while. It had been a long time since his life had been "normal." The beginning of the BGY project had marked the end of that. Since then, he had been charged with keeping an important secret, one he couldn't share with even those he trusted most. //So... What does a normal person do?//

Reached over to the small side table, Dwayne picked up the remote and turned on the television. What he saw brought him to his feet. A newscaster was shouting into a microphone, trying to be heard over the sounds of battle. Behind her, Big Guy was locked in combat with a strange looking mechanical creature. It wasn't like any robot Dwayne had ever seen. Four skeletal arms branched off a triangular torso and a spherical head seemed to rotate freely on it's broad shoulders. While it was considerably smaller than Big Guy, it was still able to fend off the larger robot.

"Downtown New Tronic City has become a battle field!" the reporter informed the camera, "No one's sure where this robot came from or what it intends to do. All we can do is hope Big Guy and Rusty can stop this monster before it causes more damage." 

Dwayne recognized the buildings in the image and quickly turned off the television. He ran out of the hotel, letting the door slam shut behind him. //So much for normal...//

  


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"Get back! Everyone move back!" armed guards herded the crowd of bystanders away from the fighting. The precaution wasn't really necessary as the citizens fled from the chaos. General Thorton and his soldiers stood at the ready, watching the battle from a safe distance.

Dwayne shouldered his way through the crowd towards the General. A soldier grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him back, "I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go past... Oh... Lieutenant Hunter!" The young man looked rather embarrassed, "Sorry, sir. I didn't recognize you..."

"No problem," Dwayne gave the man an encouraging pat on the shoulder, "Didn't expect you to."

"What's going on over there?" Thorton demanded. When he saw Dwayne, he frowned, "What the hell are you doing here? You're on vacation!"

"Sorry, General, but it's kinda hard to miss a 15 foot tall robot being bashed around downtown," he commented dryly.

Thorton grunted in acknowledgment as he turned back to the fight, "What do you make of that?"

Dwayne shook his head, "I don't know... I've never seen anything like that... It didn't say anything?"

"Hell no! Apparently it was more interested in blowing up buildings than making small talk." The General cringed as a skyscraper toppled under the impact of the Big Guy.

"Why hasn't Gar... er, Big Guy moved this out of the city?" Dwayne asked.

"Tried to. Monster didn't bite. This thing seems to just want to destroy things."

Watching Rusty dodge a laser beam, Dwayne frowned, "That's strange... It must have SOME kind of agenda... This is just random destruction." Another building caved in as the mysterious robot was flung into it.

"Maybe you should tell IT that," Thorton grumbled, "Damn thing's making a mess!"

Big Guy, having long ago expended his supply of ammunition, had taken to using his fists. Grabbing the other robot by one of its arms, Big Guy smashed it into the pavement, leaving a massive hole in the road. "This thing is tough..." Dwayne murmured as it bounced back to its feet, "It doesn't seem to be taking any real damage..."

Studying the machine with a practiced eye, the Lieutenant sought anything that might be a weak point. As Rusty fired a beam of protons, Dwayne noticed the rogue machine used one of its arms to cover something on its torso, a small, glowing, blue sphere on its right side. It dawned on him that it wasn't the first time the robot had done so, either... "General... Can you get a hold of... Big Guy?" Dwayne asked slowly, forming a plan.

"No, as a matter of fact, we can't," Thorton answered, "That... thing is producing some kind of jamming signal. All our communications are out."

"Damn..." Dwayne watched the robots for a moment longer before making a decision. "Rusty!" he hollered, "Rusty! Down here!"

The diminutive robot turned upon hearing his name. His eyes swept the crowd before spotting the Lieutenant's frantically waving arms, "Lieutenant Dwayne!" Rusty flew to the human, "What're you doing here?"

"That's not important," putting an arm around Rusty's small shoulders, Dwayne pointed towards the dueling machines, "Do you see that blue light?" Rusty nodded affirmatively, "The robot seems to be trying to protect that spot. I need you to tell Big Guy to make sure it can't do that anymore. Once he distracts the robot, give that spot everything you've got, okay?"

"Well... If you're sure..." Rusty said reluctantly.

"Trust me, kid," Dwayne gave the boy robot a pat on the back before sending him back to the fight. Thorton raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak. Watching anxiously, Dwayne saw Rusty say something to Big Guy who's enormous metal head swiveled in their direction. The enemy robot didn't waste the opportunity to land a blow to the Big Guy's midsection. "Geez, Garth..." Dwayne hissed in disapproval, "Be careful..."

Recovering quickly, Big Guy caught the robot's two right arms, one in each hand. He struggled to maintain his hold as Rusty began to charge up. A bright green glow surrounded the boy robot's hands as he released a blast. "Yes!" Dwayne shouted enthusiastically as the shot struck right on target. The blue sphere exploded in a shower of sparks. Staggering, the menacing machine shuddered to a halt before collapsing completely.

"Well, Lieutenant, ever thought of coaching?" General Thorton asked idly, hands clasped behind his back.

"Only if I can't play," Dwayne answered with a grin.

  


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Dr. Slate examined the remains of the mysterious robot. It was mostly intact, a fact which she had commented favorably upon. At the moment, the machine was laying stretched out on the floor of one of Quark's robotics labs, "Looks like you got a direct hit to it's power core."

"I figured it had to be something important for the robot to protect it like that," Dwayne told her. He stood of to the side with his hands in his pockets.

"You weren't even supposed to be there," Garth pointed out, "But I'm glad you were."

"I might not have noticed if I'd been... er..." Dwayne glanced at Rusty and rephrased his comment, "Its easier to notice things like that if you're not in the middle of the fight..." Rusty was still too excited about his victory over the dangerous machine to pay any attention to the human's slip of the tongue.

General Thorton ignored the others and focused on Dr. Slate's analysis, "So... Where did this thing come from?"

"I have no idea," she admitted, "This technology is very advanced. The closest thing I've seen are the cybernetic implants created by Number Seven. There are some similarities... but..."

"But?" the General motioned for her to continue.

"There's no Operating System. All of the Legion machines had a very sophisticated OS. This one just seems to have been programmed to blow things up. There's not even a logic circuit..." Dr. Slate sat back on her heels, "Why would anyone build something so sophisticated just to destroy things?"

"Looks like that's the question of the day," Thorton muttered, "So there's nothing else distinctive?"

"Well... There's this..." picking up the lower left hand, Dr. Slate showed him a strange plate in the palm. A short, slender spike, more a needle than anything, protruded from the smooth surface, "I'm not entirely sure what this is supposed to do... It's not big enough to be a weapon."

Dwayne leaned over to get a closer look at the hand, "Well, I guess that's some kind of a relief. Though, that is kinda weird."

Dr. Slate let go of the arm with a sigh, "I'll need to do some more tests, but I don't know if I'll find anything." Rising to her feet, she walked over to the General, "I'm afraid we might never know where this came from."

Nodding in acceptance, General Thorton thanked her, "You've done your part, Doctor. All I'm immediately concerned about is that this thing isn't roaming around now."

"You don't need to worry about it with me and Big Guy around," Rusty declared proudly.

"Yeah, you did a great job, kid," Dwayne grinned at the boy robot, "Where would we be without you?"

"Awe... shucks..." Rusty ducked his head, embarrassed by the attention. Garth gave the robot a pat on the head, chuckling.

As the others discussed what to do next, Dwayne knelt down next to the mysterious machine. He studied the components for a while before lifting the top left arm to inspect it more closely. Instantly, the hand jerked and closed about his arm. Dwayne gasped and tried to free himself only to be pulled forward. He felt something sharp being driven in the back of his neck. Dimly, through the pain, he heard the voice of his friends as they tried to fight off the machine. A strange feeling washed over him, as if someone was looking through his brain just before he slid into unconsciousness.

  


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"Lieutenant Hunter... Can you hear me?" an unfamiliar voice cut through the darkness as he struggled to awaken himself.

"Urrgh..." was all Dwayne could manage to say.

"Thank God..." someone in the background said. //Garth?//

Experimentally, he opened one eye but quickly shut it again when someone decided to shine a bright light in it, "Aghh..."

"Lieutenant, please open your eyes if you can," said the stranger.

Reluctantly, he obeyed, opening first one and then the other. His vision was blurred, but began to clear as he tried to focus on the faces hovering over him, "Ow..."

Dr. Slate, on his left, look relieved, "Lieutenant..."

"What happened?" Dwayne asked as he attempted to sit up. He immediately thought better of it when the throbbing pain in his head intensified, "Ugh..."

One of Quark's medical doctors stood directly over him, "You shouldn't try to move."

"Yeah... Thanks. I figured that out," he groaned, "What the hell happened to me?"

"We're not exactly sure..." Dr. Slate answered, "The robot used that metal spike on you..."

"It stuck me in the back of the neck?" Dwayne was puzzled, "Why? And how? I thought Rusty blew out its power source..."

"He did... And we don't know..." Erica told him, "I can't find any kind of back up power supply..."

"Lieutenant Dwayne, are you okay," Rusty's youthful voice cut in.

"Uh... More or less..." he responded, "I think a little less rather than more..."

The doctor instructed several EMT's to begin moving the Lieutenant, "Don't worry, Lt. Hunter. You're going to be fine. There doesn't seem to be any serious neural damage and the wound isn't that serious."

Dr. Slate gave his hand a quick, gentle squeeze for reassurance, "We'll take care of things here. I don't think the robot is going to be hurting anyone else now. Rusty was rather... exuberant about stopping it this time around." 

Casting his glance to the side, Dwayne noticed pieces of metal debris scattered about the lab, "I can see that..."

"Well, Lieutenant, looks like you've earned yourself some more hospital time," Thorton commented with a wry smile.

Dwayne rolled his eyes, "Oh goody... This time around, maybe you could sneak me a decent meal. I'm getting sick of hospital food."

  


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	6. Stranger by the Day

  


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A/N: Ah! This is harder to write than I thought it would be... The recent real world tragedies have dampened my spirits for the moment. I seem to be suffering a bit of writer's block. I'll keep plugging away at this, though, never fear. It WILL get finished... just not as fast as I'd like it too... Kalico Kat - that's definitely one of the most amusing reviews I've ever read. Hope the psychiatrist let's you come back to the computer! :) Lady Zera - Oh, yes! You seem to have a good intuition. Dwayne's robot parts maybe very well come into play. (I'd say more, but I don't want to give anything away!) Thanks for all the great reviews! Hope you like the next chapter! Oh yeah... I was spelling Dr. Slate's first name wrong... It's Ericka, not Erica.

  


  


Chapter 6: Stranger by the Day

  


"Feeling better?" Garth asked as he escorted Dwayne out of the emergency room.

Gingerly touching the bandage on the back of his neck, Dwayne gave him a wry smile, "Aside from the throbbing headache? Peachy." He then stumbled.

Garth caught his arm, preventing him falling to the floor, "Peachy, huh?"

"Well... Maybe I'm a little dizzy..." Dwayne conceded.

"All the more reason for us to get you back to the hotel," his friend said.

Garth left Dwayne at his door, promising to keep him informed if anything happened. Dwayne crawled into bed still fully dressed. The painkillers he had taken were beginning to work, in more ways than one. Exhaustion mingled with a fuzzy feeling from the medication, making it impossible to focus. All he wanted at the moment was sleep.

A knock on his door elicited a groan from the weary Lieutenant, "Who can that be...?" Rolling back to his feet, Dwayne trudged over to the door, "Yeah, yeah... I'm coming..." He yanked the door open and glared at the visitor.

Dr. Slate stood with her hand poised to knock again. Startled by the abrupt opening of the door, she only blinked.

Dwayne stared for a moment, utterly surprised, "Uh... Doc... What're you doing here?"

"Well..." she began slowly, "I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I was heading home and since the hotel was in that direction anyway..."

"Oh... uh... Do you want to come in?" he asked for lack of anything better to say.

Ericka considered his offer for an instant before shaking her head, "No... You look like you need to rest. I'll... see you tomorrow..." She gave him a faint smile and turned away, heading down the hall.

"Sure..." Dwayne leaned against the door frame, watching her till she was out of view, "Damn..." He sighed, rubbing his eyes with a thumb and index finger as he shut the door. //Why do I always sound like an idiot when I talk to her...?//

Wandering back to the bed, Dwayne lay down again. He winced a bit as he put his head on the pillow, but the stab of pain was brief. Though he really wanted to mull over his feelings for Dr. Slate, he decided that sleep was a priority. It didn't take him long to drift off into slumber.

  


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_Dwayne found himself standing in General Thorton's office surrounded by a crowd of people. Things more than a few feet away from him were blurred and indistinct. Though he tried hard to make out the faces, he wasn't quite sure who all was present. To make things worse, he couldn't remember WHY he was there in the first place, "Uh... What's going on?"_

_"You KNOW what's going on," someone accused. The voice sounded familiar, but Dwayne couldn't place it._

_"Yeah, Lieutenant," another said. Turning around, he found himself confronted by Jo._

_"Huh? I don't understand..." he began._

_Waving her hand to cut him off, she laughed harshly, "Sure you don't. Why should we expect you to? After all, you're not like us..."_

_Dwayne frowned, "What do you mean?"_

_"Look at 'im. Acting all innocent," she leaned backwards slightly, speaking to someone next to her, "I told you we couldn't trust someone like him. He's not even really human!"_

_"What?!" shocked, Dwayne could only stare at his freckled friend, "How can you say that?!"_

_"Well, you're not! You're just as much machine as you are human. Why should we trust someone with robot parts?" she demanded. Horrified at her accusation, Dwayne took a step back._

_"She's got a point," Garth put in as he stepped forward, coming in to focus, "You've spent the last ten years fighting monsters and robots... You're always on alert. There's never been any time to rest, not for you. I always knew it was just a matter of time before you cracked."_

_"Cracked? I haven't cracked!" he shouted back, "I can still do my job... better than any of you! You've all told me so!"_

_"Now, now, Lieutenant. There's no need to take that tone," Dwayne turned his head to look at General Thorton who was now standing up behind his desk, "I'm afraid the others are right. You've turned into a security risk. We can't have American citizens being defended by a faulty piece of equipment, now can we?"_

_"Faulty..." Dwayne repeated, bewildered. He then turned to Mack who had been silent, "You don't agree, do you? Tell them I can do this!"_

_The elderly mechanic merely shook his head and turned his back to Dwayne, "Poor kid..."_

_"I don't believe this!" Dwayne yelled, outraged at the betrayal of his friends, "Why are you doing this?!"_

_**\\Don't trust them...//** Startled at hearing the voice that wasn't his own, he glanced around, but found no one else had spoken._

_"Yes... I'm afraid he's become dangerous..." Thorton said resignedly to the others, "There's only one thing to do with a risk of this factor... I'm afraid we'll have to terminate his program."_

_"My what?!" Dwayne backed away as several armed soldiers began to advance, "What are you doing? Stop!" **\\Run.//** When the men ignored his plea, he took the advice of the unknown speaker, spinning on his heel and running. After a few moments, Dwayne found himself in the hallways of Quark Tower. It only briefly occurred to him that this was an impossible feat. Ericka stepped out into the hall, a clipboard in hand. She was too busy studying it to notice the Lieutenant running towards her._

_"Doc! Dr. Slate" he cried as he slid to a halt, his shoes slipping on the highly polished floor, "Please, I need your help..."_

_She looked up at him, smiling, "Yes? Oh..." Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide in shock._

_Dwayne blinked in surprise, "What...? What's wrong?" He reached out to touch her, but the doctor moved away._

_"Don't touch me!" she warned, "What are you...?!"_

_Shaking his head, Dwayne held out his hand again, "I don't under..." Something glinting in the light caught his eye as he reached for her, drawing his eyes to his arm. With a frown, the Lieutenant pulled back his sleeve to inspect it, "What the hell...?"_

_Silver filaments, much like those on a circuit board, traced an intricate pattern across his skin. The delicate pieces of metal ran the length of his arm, disappearing into the flesh of the top of his hand. Dwayne reacted with utter horror at the sight, "No... NO! This... this... can't be... It's not real!" He looked up at Dr. Slate who had retreated back against the opposite wall, "It's not real..." _

_**\\What if it is REAL?//** _

_Pain then lanced through his head like a sharp knife, bringing him to his knees. He held his head in his hands as he continued to tell himself that what he saw wasn't the truth._

Groaning, Dwayne rolled over on the bed and nearly onto the floor. He caught himself first and only ended up jarring his still aching head, "Ooooww..." The clock told him it was all ready 9:23 AM of the next day. //I slept that long...?// Slowly sitting up, he tentatively rolled back his sleeve to look at his arm. //Nothing... Just another dream...// 

Oddly relieved, he stood and wandered into the bathroom and over to the sink. Downing several more tablets of painkillers, he sighed and looked at his own haggard reflection in the mirror. //At least its a DIFFERENT nightmare...// Heading back out to the main room, Dwayne sat down in the plush chair. He had found that the less he moved, the less his head hurt. The chair seemed to be a good place to stay for a while.

He still felt groggy. The medication mingled with having abruptly woken up left him with a fuzzy feeling and a rather sour taste in his mouth. Dwayne contemplated getting a glass of water, but the sink suddenly seemed to be a long way across the room.

The ringing telephone sent another stab of pain through his head, "Ooohh... Geez... Why does everything have to be so loud..." he grumbled as he reached for the handset. "Feel like I've got a hangover... Hello?"

"Lieutenant, how are you feeling?" Dr. Slate's voice came over the phone.

Dwayne instantly sat up a little straighter, a faint smile curling his lips, "Oh, hey, Doc. Not too bad. Still got a headache, though."

"I'm sorry to bother you so soon, but I think I found something unusual about the robot from yesterday."

"Really," he said dryly, "And we were expecting it to be totally normal, right? What a shock."

Dr. Slate was silent for a moment as she considered how to respond, "Are you always this sarcastic this early in the morning?"

"Wouldn't you like to find out?," Dwayne retorted, then cringed. //Did I say that? How's she gonna take it...?//

Another long pause passed, "Uh... Anyway, I've contacted Dr. Poindexter and General Thorton... I figured you might like to see this too..."

"Yeah... Yes, I would. I'll be right over," Dwayne told her.

"Please, don't work yourself up too much. There's no hurry. This thing isn't going anywhere."

  


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"So, what do you think, Dr. Poindexter?" Dr. Slate asked.

"Disturbing..." he murmured in response as he turned the small metal box over in his hands, "It looks too much like what I designed to be a coincidence..."

Ericka nodded, "That's what I thought."

"But how can that be?" Thorton demanded, "We destroyed all of the Legion robots!"

"I seem to remember Number 7 telling us that he had made SEVERAL copies of himself..." Poindexter reminded him.

The General shook his head, "We went through every last piece of equipment in the bunker. There was NOTHING."

"We don't really know WHERE Number 7 might have left those copies..." Dr. Slate bent down next to the disassembled robot on her laboratory floor, "But it is hard to believe that it could have found a way to construct something like this without someone discovering it."

"Perhaps this was constructed before?" Poindexter offered.

"But where would they hide something like that?" gesturing at the pieces of machinery, General Thorton scowled.

Dwayne shrugged, "You've got a point there... It's not exactly easy ..."

"I don't know if we'll ever find out," Dr. Slate admitted, "I've run through all of its processors, memory, anything that might give us a clue... But it's all been wiped clean. There's no trace of even the most basic programming."

Rubbing his jaw, Dwayne eyed the robot, "Do you think it happened when Rusty toasted the power supply?"

Shaking her head, Ericka rose to her feet again, "That shouldn't have happened. It had a back-up power supply." She pointed to the object in Dr. Poindexter's hand, "It was only extremely limited and contained some kind of reserve program... But that's gone too. Stranger still, the battery wasn't enough power for it to even operate it's primary systems..."

"So... Nobody knows why the thing attacked me," Dwayne said flatly.

"Well... No..." she conceded, "It might have been anything that triggered the back-up systems... You might have just been in the wrong place and the wrong time."

He sighed resignedly, "Right. So, what happens now?"

"We need to find out where this thing came from," Thorton insisted, "We can't just assume that this was a one time event. I'm not willing to risk people's lives on an assumption."

"I guess we can see if we can track its progress across the city," Dwayne suggested, "If nothing else, maybe we can figure out where it came IN."

"Good idea, Lieutenant," the General nodded, "But you should probably sit this one out. You're too dangerous to send out in the field."

Dwayne spun around and stared, "What did you just say?!"

General Thorton blinked, "I said your injuries still haven't had time to heal..." He frowned and looked at the other man suspiciously, "Why? What did you think I said?"

"Uh... nothing... I just... misheard you..." shaking his head, Dwayne massaged his forehead. //Must be the medication...//

  


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	7. Back to Normal?

  


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A/N: Oh yeah... those in the know may catch a small reference to Verve's excellent "Prisoner Games: Colony 923." I just wish the next part would be written soon. :) I've really been struggling with getting this written. Sorry it's taking me so long. It's also not quite what I wanted it to be, so there might be revisions in the future...

Chapter 7: Back to Normal...?

  


  


"You ready to get back on the horse?" Garth leaned casually against the fighter jet on the deck of the S.S. Dark Horse. He was dressed in the same olive green pressure suit that all the fighter pilots wore. Since it was still early the sun had not yet warmed the metal of the ship, leaving a slight chill in the air.

"Well, I don't know as I'd call this thing a HORSE..." Dwayne commented as he studied the plane, "More like a pony compared to what I'm used to..." 

Chuckling, Garth put on his helmet, "Hey, you gotta start somewhere. Besides, Dr. Reinhardt insisted that you try this first."

The Lieutenant shrugged as he climbed the ladder into the cockpit, "Hey, I'm not complaining. You have no idea how bored I was." Dwayne busied himself adjusting the lap and shoulder belts and checking the gauges as Garth settled into the seat behind him.

"If you ask me, all these precautions and whatnot are a waste of time," Garth remarked, "Though, I guess it's better safe than sorry, right?"

"That's the way they like it," Mack reminded the two from his place on the ground next to the plane, "Especially when it comes to multi-million dollar planes... You guys all strapped in?" Dwayne and Garth gave him a simultaneous "thumbs up" as a response, "Good. Let's get this over with... It's cold out here." At Mack's direction, several of the flight crew removed the crew ladder, dashing off immediately afterwards. The elder mechanic followed then to the more protected monitoring area.

"Hey, Jo," Garth called into the microphone in his helmet as the cockpit canopy sealed overhead, "You hearing?"

"Loud and clear, boys," she replied over the radio from her position in the flight control tower, "Make sure you put on a good show, Lieutenant. You've got an audience!"

Craning his neck to see, Dwayne could just barely make out a pair of distinct white coats amidst the usual crew wardrobe, "Dr. Slate...?" Standing next to her, Rusty waved enthusiastically though the Lieutenant only saw a small red blur, "What're they doing here?" Admittedly, Dwayne was rather pleased that Dr. Slate had come. Her presence was oddly comforting.

Grinning widely, Jo answered him, "What do you think they're doing here? They came to watch you!" The young woman paused as Dr. Slate spoke to her for a moment, "Uh... sure... right... Apparently you've got a fan now, Dwayne. Rusty wanted to see how people fly." 

Though Jo's voice was laced with skepticism for the Doctor's explanation, it occurred to Dwayne that the boy robot didn't have much experience with airplanes piloted by humans, "Right... And the other white coat would be...?"

"Dr. Reinhardt. She insisted she get to monitor your... progress," Jo's tone indicated that she wasn't particularly taken with the psychiatrist, "Like I said, put on a GOOD show."

Mack came to stand next to the blond young woman, watching the yellow garbed taxi director guiding the jet across the flight deck, "Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for nothing." Dr. Reinhardt shot him a cold glance but the roar of the jet's engines as it took off covered any response she might have made. 

Rusty, oblivious to the barely veiled animosity between the adults, watched in awe as the steam powered catapult launched the massive war plane, "Wow... Cool!" He jumped up, hovering several feet above the steel deck, observing the plane as it gracefully lifted into the air.

"Blue Eagle to Flight Deck, we're go," Garth said over the radio.

"Copy, Blue Eagle. Looking good," Jo replied, still smiling, "Take it easy up there."

"Awe, you don't want me to have any fun," Dwayne pretended to whine eliciting a laugh from Jo.

Moving forward to stand beside Dr. Slate, Dr. Reinhardt crossed her arms over her chest. The 40 something woman was, as always, impeccably dressed. Her mouse brown hair was pulled tight and held back with a silver clip. It was easy to see that she highly disapproved of this departure from the strict schedule she had prescribed. After a mere three and half weeks of leave, Dwayne had practically begged Thorton to let him fly again. Despite her vociferous protests, the General had agreed. She cast a glance then at the tall, gray haired man to her left. 

"Yaaahhhoooo!" Dwayne hollered into the microphone as he executed a rather elegant barrel roll. It had been a long time since he'd been able to fly just for the sheer thrill of it.

Thorton laughed heartily at the rare display of uninhibited exuberance, "Don't get too carried away up there."

Dr. Slate smiled, feeling a strange sense of relief. She had hoped that everything would go well for the Lieutenant, "So what do you think, Rusty?... Rusty...?" She turned to where the boy robot had been and gasped when she saw the spot was empty, "Oh dear..."

"How's it feel?" Garth asked, grinning ear to ear.

"Great!" Dwayne enthused, "I'd almost forgotten why I got into this gig in the first place." Suddenly, he heard a strange tapping sound, "What the...?" Frowning, he check the instrument gauges, but found nothing. When the tapping grew more insistent, Dwayne looked around, finally glancing out the right side of the cockpit. Rusty grinned and waved at him. "Yahh!" the human let out a short, startled shout.

"What the hell's going on?!" Mack demanded, hearing the noise over the radio.

"Er... We've just got some unexpected company," Garth explained quickly, "Nothing to be concerned about... right, Lieutenant?"

"Uh, yeah..." hesitantly, Dwayne waved back to the diminutive robot, "You'd think I'd be used to it by now..."

"Well, I guess it's not a problem..." Mack muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing at General Thorton for confirmation, "Just as long as everyone plays nicely." 

Garth couldn't help but smile, "Sure thing, mother hen."

The elder mechanic scowled, "Don't make me come up there."

  


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Dwayne stretched his arms above his head and winced as the joints popped audibly. They immediately felt looser afterwards, and he relaxed back into the steel folding chair. He was happy to be back on the Dark Horse. Though the time away _had_ been helpful, this was where he truly felt at home.

There had been a time when the realization that he felt more comfortable out at see in a cramped metal ship than on shore. It wasn't really the place that felt like home, but the people who felt like family. Dwayne watched Garth demonstrating how to make surprisingly clever animal figures using steel wire and some spare PVC hose and amended his thought. A family, yes, but a rather dysfunctional one.

The Pit Crew had decided to throw an impromptu celebration in his honor. They had quickly found that the lack of preparation made things difficult. However, they proved to be up to the task and came up with some highly inventive solutions. Dwayne couldn't help but smile. The festivities had lasted only a brief time but had managed to include General Thorton, Dr. Reinhardt, and even Dr. Slate.

Jo dropped into the seat next to him and grinned, "Hey, fly boy. You did some colorful actions out there."

Dwayne wrinkled his nose at the comment, "Nobody had any objections at the time, now did they?"

"Naw, they just know that you're good enough not to drive your bird into the drink," she pointed out, "Anybody else would've gotten one hell of a reprimand."

"Yeah... I know," running his fingers through his dark hair, the Lieutenant grimaced, "It seemed like a good idea at the time..."

Laughing, Jo gave Dwayne a good natured poke in the ribs, "Famous last words! Besides, like I said, you're good enough to pull that stuff off."

"I'll take that as a vote of confidence, then," Dwayne pointedly edged his chair till he was out of range of Jo's rather sharp elbow. She merely laughed harder, nearly tipping herself out of her seat.

Rolling his eyes at the scene, Mack came over to lean on a third chair, "When you two are finished..." Jo quickly sobered, raising her hands to show her fit of giggles had ended, "Right... The kid's in talking to his big metal buddy, just so you know, and the Doc is hanging around for a while longer. General Thorton had to head back to dry land." The elder mechanic produced a computer disc from the inside pocket of his rumpled jacket, "But before he left, Thorton wanted you to read the latest briefing from the committee."

Dwayne accepted the disc, turning it over idly in his hands. He didn't expect to see any distinctive markings and, of course, there were none. //No sense in advertising top secret documents.// The protocol was that once read, the disc would be immediately demagnetized and destroyed. "Thanks, Mack. Might as well do that now," the Lieutenant said as he rose to his feet, "Wouldn't want this to fall into enemy hands while I hang around, right?"

_"Why should we trust you?"_

Frowning, Dwayne turned back towards his crew mates, "Did you say something?" Jo and Mack exchanged puzzled looks and each indicated negatively. He studied their faces for a moment, trying to determine if a joke was being played at his expense. Both looked as sincerely confused as he felt. The Lieutenant then rubbed his forehead, "Right... Sorry... Must be hearing things..." 

  


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Green eyes skimmed rapidly across the computer screen as Dwayne read the information on the disc. It was essentially what he had expected to find. Resting his chin on his right hand, the Lieutenant scrolled down the page a bit farther. Most of the text was just a general synopsis of the meetings he had missed. A few amendments and financial strategies had been proposed, but nothing of vital importance had taken place.

Dwayne felt a strange prickling sensation on his right arm. He flexed his hand, absently thinking that leaning on it had cut off the circulation somehow. The feeling only continued to deepen, rapidly nearing pain. Frowning as he continued to read the text on the monitor, Dwayne began to massage the afflicted hand. 

Something thin, cold and hard greeted his probing fingers, and he glanced down curiously. Slender silver filaments ran across his skin like metallic veins. They formed a delicate network, starting from somewhere under his rolled up sleeve and continuing to the back of his hand where the ends submerged beneath his flesh. A cold stab of fear lanced through his gut. Dwayne stared in horror, raising his hand in front of his face. //What the...?// 

The sound of foot fall behind him drew his attention, and he instinctively hid his afflicted hand in a convenient pocket. Dwayne stood abruptly and faced the intruders.

Jo had opened her mouth to speak, but paused when he spun around. Frowning, the freckled young woman studied his face, "You okay, Dwayne? You look kinda spooked." Just as she spoke, Dr. Reinhardt stepped into the room. It was clear that she had been following directly behind Jo.

_\\Don't tell... Don't trust her...// _

"N...no! Nothing's wrong..." Dwayne forced a smile to cover the near panic he was feeling.

"Um, okay..." Jo shrugged and jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the other woman, "Dr. Reinhardt wanted to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" Dwayne felt a strange, but urgent need to get away from the psychiatrist, "I'm kinda tired..."_ \\Don't trust her...//_

Dr. Reinhardt looked slightly exasperated, "I suppose so..."

"Great!" Dwayne edged towards the doorway, "I'm gonna go rest, if you don't mind..." Bolting out, he left the two women wearing twin looks of confusion. He jogged down the hallway, passing a few sailors before he reached the crew's ready room.

Dr. Slate sat at the table alone, jotting down some notes. She glanced up in surprise as Dwayne approached. Immediately, Ericka noticed the intense cast of his features, "Lieutenant... Is everything all right?"

Trembling slightly, Dwayne held out his arm for her to see. Dr. Slate gently took hold of his hand, inspecting first one side and then the other. Dwayne desperately watched for her reaction. 

Dr. Slate adjusted her glasses. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing," she admitted after a moment.

"What do you mean..." Dwayne started as he glanced down at his hand. "Huh...?" His appendage looked exactly as it always had with no sign that the silvery lines had ever existed. Forcing calm upon himself, he quietly explained to Ericka what he had seen. He prayed she would have an answer.

The description of the filaments sparked a memory, and Dr. Slate frowned. She could recall the strange metallic tracings that had run all over Dwayne's body during the time he was under the control of Number 7. The filaments had all been removed, and Dwayne had claimed no recollection of them or his captivity, "Lieutenant..." she began.

Dwayne suddenly interrupted, "You don't think I'm crazy, do you?"

His question caught Dr. Slate completely off guard," Crazy...? No. You're probably just tired. You've been under a lot of stress today." //What a strange thing to ask..// Despite her reassurances, she herself felt a sense of unease. //Something's not right...//

Nodding, Dwayne gave her a faint smile, "Yeah, you're probably right..." He visibly relaxed, the intensity draining away to mild exhaustion, "I'm sure its nothing. Sorry I bothered you."

"Not at all," Dr. Slate shook her head. Ericka was secretly pleased that Dwayne had specifically come to speak to her. The knowledge that he trusted her was satisfying, and she certainly didn't want to give him any reason to feel unwelcome.

"Thanks," Dwayne gave her his customary lopsided smile - the one that she thought made him look rather roguish - and headed back for the door, "I'll see you later, okay? I'm going to get some sleep." 

Dr. Slate mutely watched him leave. The knotted feeling in her stomach insisted that she not ignore his fears. She knew she needed to go back to Quarks to test several theories that had sprung to mind. First, she'd need to call Dr. Poindexter, but till she had something concrete to say there was no sense in worrying Dwayne. After all, it might really _be_ nothing... Biting her lip lightly, Dr. Slate fervently prayed that her suspicions would prove to be unwarranted. 

  


  


  


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	8. Control Freak

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Chapter 8: Control Freak

Dr. Slate chewed lightly on her lip as she held the X-Ray sheets up to the light to compare them. One had been taken a month ago after Dwayne had been "rescued" from Number 7. The other was more current, having been taken after the incident with the mysterious four armed robot. 

Sighing, Ericka laid the pictures down on her desk again. So far, she had been unable to find any differences between the two. While on the one hand, she was quite happy to have her suspicions contradicted, it left her worrying about the Lieutenant's mental state instead. //I'm sure he was just tired... But I want to be _absolutely_ sure...//

Plucking another sheet from her desk top, Dr. Slate inspected the rough schematic Poindexter had sent her of Dwayne's neural implant. He had warned that it was far from complete since he hadn't been able to actually deconstruct the device, but both scientists had agreed that it was better than nothing. She had been much relieved when Dr. Poindexter had volunteered to come in person. Evidently, he too felt that the potential threat outweighed the inconvenience.

The implant was a strange looking device, almost organic in form. Molding itself to the base of the skull, slender "feelers" extended outwards and embedded themselves into the brain stem. While she could only guess at all of the properties, the primary function was a portable life support system. The implant subverted the body's normal ability to maintain automatic functions, regulating them on its own. At the moment, it seemed to be working perfectly, but there was always the potential for future malfunctions. 

"What 'cha got there, sugarpop?"

Dr. Slate gasped and spun around only to be faced with a much-too-happy Dr. Donovan "Good lord! You startled me!" she accused, quickly hiding the paper behind her back. The _last_ thing she needed was Donovan messing around in her work.

"Looks like a blue-print to me," Jenny chimed in, "And ya know anything you invent while you're here..."

"It's nothing!" Ericka _did_ know all too well that her work was the property of Quarks. The thought of what Donovan might do with such highly advanced and dangerous technology made her feel queasy, "I was just looking over something Dr. Poindexter sent me." //Maybe the truth will be enough...//

Donovan's beady eyes lit up with glee, "Oh really? Are you planning on... collaborating on a new project?" 

"No!" Dr. Slate shuffled around to stay facing the persistent man who was surreptitiously attempting to gain a glimpse at the schematic, "He just wanted an... opinion! No help... I'm not helping..." The scientist desperately fumbled for words while trying to keep the two intruders squarely in front of her.

"Too bad," Jenny suddenly leapt on to the desktop and triumphantly picked up one of the X-Ray sheets, "Looks pretty interesting."

"It's nothing," Dr. Slate grabbed for the sheet but was beaten by Donovan.

"Well, well, well..." the eager CEO studied the image carefully, an unpleasant smile curving his lips, "Now this _is_ interesting. You know, Quark's medical research division would _love_ to see this. We haven't gotten into cybernetic prosthetics much..."

While she was mildly surprised that Donovan had been able to figure out what he was looking at, Ericka was afraid of what he would do with it. Rapidly gathering up the other images, she protested, "It's not mine!"

Her declaration did little to deter the man, "I'm sure Dr. Poindexter would be willing to negotiate... Don't you agree, Jenny?"

"Am I interrupting something?" Roland Poindexter paused just inside the door to the lab. He took in the scene with a calculated gaze and quickly surmised that Dr. Slate was far from happy with whatever situation she now found herself in.

"No!" quickly snatching the sheet from the distracted CEO's hand, Ericka moved over to greet the other scientist, "I was just looking over what you sent me..."

"Dr. Poindexter!" Donovan neatly nudged Dr. Slate aside and took the other man's hand in a vigorous hand shake, "What a pleasure to have you visit us again!"

Startled by the friendly assault, Poindexter sought an appropriate response, "Uh... yes, well... I can't stay too long..." He deftly extricated his hand from Donovan's grip and offered a bland smile, "I'm afraid Dr. Slate and I have much to discuss - military matters... I'm sure you understand."

"Ur, yes, of course!" recovering easily from the rather blunt dismissal, Dr. Donovan moved towards the door, "I insist that you let me buy you lunch!" He paused, allowing Jenny to scamper back up to his shoulder.

"Perhaps some other time..." Poindexter waited until the man had vacated the room before turning to Dr. Slate, "You really have to put up with that man?"

She smiled faintly, "Afraid so. I don't have a choice, really. Quark owns the only facilities with the capabilities to construct the components I needed for Rusty."

"Ah, I see," Poindexter said knowingly, "Sometimes you need to make compromises for your work..."

"I thought you'd understand." Spreading the X-Ray images out on her desktop, Ericka sighed, "But, we're not here to discuss _my_ problems..."

****************************************************************

Skidding slightly on the freshly cleaned floor, Dwayne ran into the control room. The sound of the Big Guy signal rang through the corridors, "What've we got?"

"Something big, tall, and ugly," Garth pointed to one of the monitors which displayed the image of a gigantic creature tearing a hole in a building. 

"What the hell is that?" shaking her head, Jo leaned forward to study the image.

"A one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple-people eater?" Mack suggested sarcastically. 

Jo rolled her eyes and straightened as she stepped away from the screen to allow Dwayne a better look, "Cute. Very cute."

"What ever it is, that thing's tearing up downtown... Looks like it's show time," Dwayne grinned, eager to be back in control of the BGY-11. The familiar sensation of adrenaline in his blood stream came as he slid into the cockpit. The hatch snapped shut behind him as he set his hands on the controls. Flickering to life, the three screens in front of him offered a panoramic view of the hanger with the pit crew all smiling.

Mack gave him the all clear sign along with a smirk, "Hey, don't over do it. Remember. Aliens are people too."

*************************************************************

"The Big Guy signal!" Rusty raced from his room towards the hatch that he used to get outside.

"Rusty!" Dr. Slate called. The Boy Robot came to a halt and turned to look curiously at his creator, "Be careful, okay?"

"Sure as shootin'!" was his carefree reply as he sped up through the piping.

"And tell Big Guy to be careful too!" she shouted, not even certain he would hear her.

Dr. Poindexter laid a hand on her shoulder, "I don't think you need to be concerned. I'm sure they'll both be fine."

Still unconvinced, Dr. Slate let out a resigned sigh, "I hope so..."

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"Wow... This thing is really making a mess," Dwayne commented to no one in particular. He scanned the area in search of his target, easily following the trail of destruction, "Come out, come out where ever you are..."

The site had mostly been evacuated as was standard procedure. New Tronic's citizens had become accustomed to attacks by various strange beings. "Getting out of the way" was a very valuable survival trait in the city. 

"Hello... What do we have here...?" Hunched over a toppled skyscraper, the scaly beast was gnawing at the steel frame, "Not too bright, are you...?" Dwayne pressed the switch that connected his voice to Big Guy's amplified speakers, "Excuse me, but I hope you weren't intending to dine and dash. We tend to frown on that sort of thing here." The creature blinked its enormous eye twice before turning around to face the new sound, " But I can see you're from out of town, so you might not be familiar with the local etiquette." 

The monster sniffed the air curiously, obviously wondering if this noise-making object might be a source of food. "Ugh... You're an ugly one..." Dwayne murmured as he got a full frontal view of the alien. Covered in matte black scales, it stood more than five stories tall. One large, bloodshot eye was centered in what Dwayne could only assume was its head with two smaller orbs flanking it. The body was roughly that of a quadruped with tentacles branching from its forward shoulders. Its enormous, gaping maw displayed three consecutive rows of very sharp teeth, "Why can't these things ever be vegetarians...?"

Watching Big Guy cautiously, the creature lashed out a tentacle that was intended more to threaten than to injure. The flailing limb, however, struck a steel and concrete sky bridge that typically ferried pedestrians from one side to the other high above the street. Metal shrieked in protest as the steel reinforcing bars in the concrete were ripped apart. The structure plunged towards the ground and the people beneath.

Dwayne sent Big Guy leaping, barely managing to catch the falling object with one hand before it crushed the innocents down below. Even then, the massive robot staggered forward as the Lieutenant fought to maintain its equilibrium. Judging that he had moved the bridge far enough from where the people had been standing, Dwayne let go to reestablish his balance. Saving people from being killed by a bridge only to squash them with a giant robot wasn't exactly a good trade-off.

A group of tourists gawked from below as their guide frantically tried to herd them to safety. Big Guy waved awkwardly, "Welcome to New Tronic City, folks. Enjoy your stay, but please don't feed the monsters." The crowd seemed highly excited to see the titanic defender that everyone spoke of. As the group scampered out of range, Dwayne caught a relieved glance from the guide. //Now there's a _fun_ job... I wonder if they make people take out traveler's insurance...//

"Oof!" Dwayne was rattled as Big Guy hit the ground. The sounds from outside the cockpit told him that the monster had decided to body-slam the robot while it was distracted, "One point for you..."

"Big Guy!" Rusty shouted as he arrived at the scene, "Are you okay?"

Dwayne couldn't help but smile. Sometimes Rusty DID have excellent timing, "Sure thing, son. Just need to get this alien off my back..." 

A deafening grinding sound set the titanium hull ringing. "What the hell is that...?" Dwayne cringed, effectively blind as long as Big Guy was face down.

"Hey! You can't eat Big Guy!" Rusty chastised the creature, "You don't know where he's been! Dr. Slate always says, 'Don't put anything in your mouth...'" The red headed robot was abruptly cut off as he was swatted by a tentacle. The creature was quickly attracted by the brightly colored boy robot and chased him as he bounced off the ground.

Finding himself freed, Big Guy pushed himself up and glanced around to take in the situation. Rusty was currently being gnawed on by the scaly alien who seem perplexed by the difficult it was having in piercing it's meal's "skin." Kicking his feet wildly, the boy robot cried out in protest, "Hey! You don't know where I've been either! Eww... Alien spit!"

"EERrrw...?" the creature replied as it removed the robot from its jaws. Confusion turned to anger, or perhaps disgust, as it flung Rusty aside. Slowly waddling off in search of a suitable and digestible food, the alien completely turned its back on the two machines.

"Gross!" Rusty exclaimed as he attempted to brush the rather goo-y saliva off himself. The strange liquid hiss and fizzled as it came in contact with the ground, rapidly eating a hole in the pavement.

Dwayne sighed, "Great. Not just alien spit, but ACID spit." Big Guy bent down to be closer to the boy robot, "You okay, son?"

Rusty nodded dejectedly, "Yeah, but I wasn't much help, was I?"

"Of course you were. You got that monster off of me, didn't you?" Big Guy responded matter-of-factly, "Distraction can be an important battle tactic. Don't forget that."

Brightening considerably, Rusty jumped up to hover closer to the other robot's head, "Sure as shootin'!"

"Good. Now let's go get that alien."

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"These are the x-rays taken when he was admitted to the hospital before they were going to remove the implants... and these were taken after the incident with the four-armed robot..." Dr. Slate placed the images she was referring to on the light table.

Inspecting them closely, Dr. Poindexter rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, "Hmm... These aren't terribly helpful... But I suppose MRI scans would be completely useless because of the metal... No. The X-Rays should do."

"I've only noticed a few minor discrepancies between the two," Ericka pointed to several places she had marked in red, "I wasn't sure if they were really significant or not."

"That's interesting..." picking up the magnifier that had been made available, Poindexter held it over one of the crimson circled areas, "It looks as though the main cerebral implant was punctured here. But over here..." The scientist moved to a second drawing from the set, "It's been repaired... You said both of these were taken after the robot attack?"

Nodding affirmatively, Dr. Slate sighed, "Yes... I'm not sure what it means, though. Its possible that these implants have the capability to reconstruct themselves... I'm not sure what else could account for that."

"True... It's hard to know exactly what modifications the Legion might have made to my original designs..."

"And then there's _this_," Dr. Slate offered him the disconnected hand from the mysterious robot, "There's some very unusual circuitry in this one that wasn't in any of the others. I'm not sure, but it looks like there was a power supply that only had a very limited charge. It appears to have burned out immediately after attacking Lieutenant Hunter."

Poindexter's gray brows rose in surprise, "That _is_ strange."

Frustration made itself known on Dr. Slate's face, "That's not all. I'm not sure what this cylinder was for, but it looks almost like a tracking device. But if so... what was it tracking? It's range could only have been a few feet!"

Studying the deconstructed components, Dr. Poindexter prodded one of the loose pieces of casing aside, "You have a good point. There must have been a specific and predetermined signal that it was to locate, and there must have been an assumption that whatever target it they were after was going to come in close contact with the robot."

"If all these things are what I think they are, then the power supply was designed to activate only when the target signal was detected." Dr. Slate paced slowly, "However, like you said, there must have been some assumptions made. And why would anyone go to all that trouble..." Ericka came to a dead stop. She felt a chilled knot form in her stomach as the pieces clicked into place. Grabbing one of the X-Ray sheets, she scanned it quickly.

"What? What's wrong?" Dr. Poindexter asked with great concern over the other scientist's sudden flurry of activity.

"The robot... It only activated when Dwayne... when Lieutenant Hunter got close to it... Why didn't I remember that...?" Intently pouring over the images, Dr. Slate tapped one of the red circles with her finger tip, "There! Look! It's not a puncture... it's an interface port!"

Shocked by her proclamation, Poindexter rapidly processed the information, "Good Lord! You're right! But then... Oh dear..."

Stricken, Dr. Slate looked up at him, feeling an irrational hope that he might come to some conclusion other than the one she had found, "The port wasn't there before... and it disappeared soon after..."

Poindexter's eyes were wide, "The robot... must have been activated by a signal from the implant... which must have produced the interface in reaction to the proximity of the robot... which..."

Ericka's heart was pounding as she fought off the panic which threatened to swamp her, "... which must have transferred... something to the implant! But what...?" Laying her hand across her chest, she forced herself to take a deep breath. //Panicking won't do anyone any good...//

Gently setting down the mechanical hand, Dr. Poindexter spoke calmly as he moved towards the door, "I do think we need to call Lieutenant Hunter... _now._" 

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Meanwhile: 

[A/N: heh... always wanted to do that...]

"Looks like we've got some company," Big Guy rumbled as General Thorton ordered troops in to position. The tanks moved to block the alien's path towards the residential section of the city, unloading several rounds of fire. While the shells merely bounced off the creature's scaly hide, they did produce the intended effect. The monster roared in irritation and changed direction.

Peering through his binoculars, Thorton smiled grimly, "Looks like he's all yours, Hunter."

Dwayne pulled back on the arm controls, ready to take a swing at the monster, "Maybe you'd like to try on... huh?" Big Guy's hand completely missed the creature, instead punching a hole in a nearby building. Jerking the controls in a belated attempt to correct his error, Dwayne set the robot staggering backwards to counteract its forward momentum.

Rusty paused and watched in confusion, "Big Guy...?"

"Er... Just a momentary malfunction..." Dwayne distractedly said through the speakers. Cautiously, he tested the controls again and found no delay or difficulty in their response. "Huh... That's weird..."

"Rrrroowwrrr!" Taking advantage of the robot's difficulty, the scaly monster pounced. Dwayne reacted almost instinctively, sending Big Guy down on his back and using the alien's own momentum (along with a hefty push from the robot's titanium soles) to send it sailing past down the street. Somehow, though, the toss was miscalculated, sending the creature into a building.

"Damn!" Dwayne worked Big Guy back to his feet, angry at his careless mistake.

The monster pushed itself out of the rubble, snarling in fury. Spying its metallic opponent, the creature charged forward. 

Dwayne quickly moved the controls to the left, neatly sidestepping the attack. The monster slid to a stop by digging its claws into the pavement. Not waiting for it to turn around, Big Guy threw a punch at it. The blow missed by a large margin along with a stray discharge from the forearm laser, "What...? I didn't mean to fire that!" Blinking in confusion at the disoriented robot, the alien backed away.

"Hunter, this better be some ingenious tactic to confuse the enemy, 'cause you're doing a _lot_ of property damage!" Thorton's visage appeared on the monitor.

"I don't know what's going on!" Dwayne snarled, more in frustration than in anger, "Come on..." The Lieutenant struggled to move the right hand controls. Suddenly, his own arm jerked to the left, sending the machine careening into a high rise department store, "NO!..."

"Big Guy...?" Uncertain, Rusty hovered nearby but out of arms reach.

Desperation took hold as Dwayne fought to hold his hands still. His arms trembled with the effort, "What's... happening...?"

"Lieutenant! What's your status?!" Thorton barked over the cockpit speakers.

"Dwayne! What the hell's happening?!" Garth's concerned face flickered on to another screen. Behind him Mack and Jo were working the controls of the VTOL.

"Don't... know!" Dwayne attempted to force his hands to release the levers, but couldn't even relax his fingers, "I think... I need some help..."

Glancing at the other two pit crew members, Garth made a decision, "Dwayne, can you switch on the emergency remote over-ride?"

"Uh... No..." came the strained reply.

"Never mind then... Mack!" Turning his back to the screen, Garth addressed the grizzled mechanic who was already busily flipping switches on the primary command panel. Mack raised his hand in acknowledgment. Dwayne was greatly relieved when the cockpit's over ride lights went on indicating that he was no longer in control. 

Big Guy pulled himself up straight, readying for a renewed fight. Still shaking slightly, Dwayne cautiously attempted to open his hand again. The muscles in his arm finally relaxed, and he slowly blew out a breath. His head hurt and his vision blurred slightly. Exhausted, he closed his eyes.

Rusty beamed as he saw his partner rise, "Big Guy!"

The titanium titan's head swiveled in his direction, "Sorry 'bout that... Just had some technical difficulties." Big Guy offered a thumbs up.

"Rrrr..." The alien shuffled sideways as it considered what to do next. It no longer seemed to be interested in trying to digest the robots.

"Look, big, tall, and scaly, I really have other things I need to be doing, so why don't you just play nice and cooperate?" Garth spoke for Big Guy as he directed the robot to circle the monster.

Hunching down, it retreated, still contemplating a course of action, "Mrrr..." 

Rusty frowned, "He doesn't seem to want to fight anymore." Tapping a metal finger against his chin, the robot thoughtfully watched the alien.

"Good," was Big Guy's only reply.

"Hey! I've got an idea..." opening a small hatch near his belt, Rusty produced a small, round object which he tossed towards the creature.

"What're you...?" Big Guy watched the monster open its massive jaws and swallow the item. It purred. "Uh... what did you just feed it?"

"Candy!" Rusty beamed, "I think he's just hungry. That's why he tried to eat everything." Taking out another piece, he threw it into the monster's mouth. Approaching cautiously, the small robot gently patted the creature's head. 

Garth rubbed his forehead, "That figures..." He stared at the screen in amazement as the alien happily accepted Rusty's touch, "General, maybe we can find this thing some more sweets or something...?"

Thorton called the orders into his radio before adressing the two robots, "Rusty, why don't you lead... your friend here out towards the airbase so we can...feed him..."

"Sure thing!"

Nodding, the General quietly turned back to his radio, "As for Big Guy, let's get him some help."

********************************************************************


End file.
